Improvement in bolting devices for safes



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STEPHEN J. BURTON, OF CHAELESTOWN, ASSIGNOR TO AMERICAN STEAM FIRE- PROOF-SAFE COMPANY, OF BOSTON,A MASSACHUSETTS.

Letters .Patent No.7103,841, dated .Tune 7, 1870.

Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part of the same To all persons' to whom these presents may come Be it known that I, STEPHEN J. BURTON, of Charlestown, of the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Improve- Figure 2 is a side view of the bolt-actuator, and

the weighted tri-armed lever to be hereinafter described.

- In the drawing- Adenotesthe bolt-supporting case or frame, and

B B', two bolts arranged so as to slide longitudinally in such frame, such bolts being connected to each other by a vertical plate, C, extending from one to the other of them.

The actuator for throwing or movingA the bolts is represented at D, as fixed on the end of the spindle a, of a knob.-

l This actuator has one or more notches, b c, made in its periphery, and it is to operate .with a tri-armed lever, E, whose fulcrum d, projects from the plate C.`

An inner side view of'such plate and lever is ex-` hibited in Figure 3, in which there is represented not only an' over-balance weight, e, ixed to the .shortest arm of the lever, but a tooth, f, lextended down from euch arm,' and between two stops or studs-g lt, projecting from the plate C, the whole being as shown in the drawing.

The upright or lowermost arm c', of the lever, has a stud, k, extended from its lower part.

`Furthermore, there is an abutment, l, xed to the bolt-case, and arranged with respect to the lever Ein manner as shown in lig. 1.

A permutation lock, H, is employed to raise and lower or operate an arm, I, which turns upon a center or pivot, K. This arm may be considered as the bolt of such a lock.

A hook, L,.pivoted to the arm, constitutes a part of the lock, and is operated by the cammed disk M thereof.

The range of motion of the arm I is between anddetained by the ends of a slot-or notch, O, formed in the look-case P, one extreme position of the armbeing indicated in the full black lines, and the other in dotted lin-es in g. 1.

From the above, it will bc seen that the rotary bolt-actuator D, is separated and isolated in action' from the permutation wheels or plates of the lock, oneA of such wheels being shown at m.

This actuator, however, is not so arranged that any inward'pressnre upon the bolt will beexerted on the bearing of' the said actuator, and have n o action or effect upon thesaid permutation wheels. In my bolting-mechariism, the bolt actuator can revolve withoutproducing any movement of the bolts, -so long as the actuator vmay b'e out of engagement with the tooth f of the tri-armed lever. When the actuator is in engagement with such tooth j', the rear arm of the said lever will be raised above the abutment l. l

While the arm I is elevated to its highest position, the Vtri-armed lever will be free tobe moved by its weight, which will operate the said lever `or turn` it on its pivot in such a manner as to cause the tooth f to pass into one of the notches of the actuator, while the actuator. may be in the act of being revolved. I The tooth, by such notch, during the continued rotary, movement of the actuator, will be forced against one of the studsgh, and thus so engage the actuator withrthe plate C as'to cause it and the bolts'to be removed during the continued vmovementv of the actuator.

As soon as the bolts may have been, advanced by the actuator to the extent of their forward movement, the tri-armed lever will have been carried beyond the abutment, and by the actuator will be turned down directly'in front of the abutment, and so long as such lever is" in such position with respect to the abutment, the two will prevent the4 vbolt from beingV shot or moved backward or retracted.

The purpose of the lock is to retain the tri-armed lever in this position, leaving the actuator out of engagement with `the tooth of the lever, and free to be revolved without effecting any movement of the bolts, and this the lock will do when the arm I is depressed to its lowest psition, as under such circumstances the arm will rest on the-stud'lt of such lever, and as a consequence while in such a situation, it will prevent any movement of such lever. When the arm is in this position it may be said to be locked, but when in its other position it may be said to be nnlocked.7

New, when the arml it locked, its operative hook will be elevated upon the periphery of the cammed disk,

and up infront of an abutment, p, extendedfrom the lock-case, as shown in'ig.'1.

By operating the lock so as to elevate the arm I to its highest position, the weight of the tri-armed lever will be free to act in a manner to cause the lever to be engaged with the actuator. By revolving the actuator the engagement may be effected, the tri-armed lever-be raised above the abutment l, and the bolts be forced back, the tri-armed lever in the mean time moving over thetop ot' )the said abutment l.

Locks of various other kinds will suffice to hold the tri-armed lever down in'its lowest position, it only tri-armed lever..

The lock is so insulated fromA the bolting-mechan'- ism, that any back pressure applied directly to either of the bolts can inno respect affect lthe lock or any of its parts, and especially the wheels, when the lock used is a permutation lock.

In case the weight of the tri-armed lever4 may not be deemed sufficient, a spring maybe substituted t0 operate the lever. In order to insure the correct operation of such lever, that is, so as to cause its teeth to engage with the actuator at the proper time, there may be a stud projected from the tri-armed lever, and arranged in such amanner as to be struck by the arm I while being elevated, the whole being so as to eiect the proper movement of the lever by the said arm.V

The advantages oi' my invention may be thus stated: It enables the main bolts to be removed any required distance, Without regard tothe throwof the lock-bolt. y It completely insulates the main bolt-actuator from the bolts and the lock, thereby'` preventing the main bolts from -being moved by the actuator when the tri-armed lever is locked.

4 I am aware that by means of a lock, a gear revolving loosely on'the spindle of a knob, and engaged with a rack applied to a bolt, has been clutched to the spindleso as to be revolved therewith, in order to effect'a throw or movement of the said bolt, a' clutch to be actuated by the lock bein gA applied to the spindle.

,I make no claim to this, for, with my apparatus, the lock performs Ano function-ot` operating a clutch for the purpose as mentioned, but simply answers the purpose of locking the tri-armed lever.

I make no'claim to any part or combination described in the United States patent, No. 57,574..

What I do claim as my invention, may be thus dened':

The arrangement and combination of the rotary` arm I, with the permutation look provided with the hook, as set'forth, such arm being to operate with the tri-armed lever in manner as described, when such lever is applied to and usedwith the boltv or bolts and the actuator, as explained.

STEPHEN J. BURTON.

Witnesses: v y

It. H. EDDY, S. N. PIPER. 

